As an ophthalmic photographer by day, and a crafter by night, I welcome you to a world of my favorite things: crafting, primitives, folk art, photography, antiques, thrift stores, and general weirdness! Hope you find a few ideas here; Happy Crafting! :)

Once again I’m working on a craft project for my local scarecrow festival! Most of the supplies for this game were got at the Dollar Tree. The rest of the supplies I had on hand, however you really could get everything you need at the dollar store if you needed to!

I started out with a bunch of foam cones that are found in the faux flower/craft section of the Dollar Tree. My husband seems to thing these are going to break once the kids start playing, but I’m thinking it’s going to be fine after testing it and whipping the rings at them…lol. They are pretty secure and it’s a harder foam; not a soft foam that easily dents. You could also use the plastic orange cones found in the athletic section of Wally world.

I used acrylic paint I got from Lowes. These are sample jars that I like to get for crafts since they come in a huge variety of colors. Any acrylic would work fine.

Paint the centers orange and the bases yellow so they look like candy corns.

While those were drying I spray painted a big piece of scrap wood black. You also could use a heavy foam core board, or a big piece of cardboard. Wood is ideal because it is heavier but other materials could be used as long as you have a way of anchoring it down.

I used some heavy duty glue to adhere the foam candy corns and a few small scarecrows, also got at the Dollar Tree, to the board. Use a very strong glue to ensure they stay attached to the board.

Next use stamps, stencils or free hand the “point” numbers below each cone or scarecrow.

Next I used stamps to write out “Ring Toss” along the bottom of the board. You can write whatever you want or write nothing…it’s up to you!

The rings are made from kids glowstick necklaces that come 4 in a package at the dollar store. I taped them to make sure they don’t come apart. They are lightweight and are the perfect sized rings for this game!

The game is pretty self-explanatory but I decided to make a small instruction sign using a chalkboard sign I already had, since the game is going to be at a festival. I made a line in the grass using orange duct tape.

That’s it! Easy and hopefully a fun little activity for kids to play while walking around the festival this year. Next on the agenda is a pumpkin tic tac toe game! Be back soon!

Hope everyone had a Happy 4th! Having some extra time off means extra time to get crafty! I have been wanting to make this Mickey dessert stand since I saw a similar version on Pinterest years ago. It was super easy and cheap. Would be great for a kids party or if you just plain love Disney like me! 🙂

I found the red vase and black plate at Goodwill. You could use a shorter dish for the base, a smaller black plate, etc., to customize the size of your stand! The buttons and silicone adhesive I had on hand. Make sure to use a strong glue made for glass or ceramic.

I applied a generous amount of the silicone adhesive to make sure it was nice and sturdy.

Let dry completely.

I could not find yellow buttons so I painted them!

Once dry, glue on the buttons. Proceed to bake many desserts so you can use your new stand! 🙂

Happy Summer! Over the last few months, my crafty days have been few and far between. However, I recently managed to find some inspiration in this wooden scarecrow man that I found at a barn sale. I am on the committee for a local small town scarecrow festival, so I’m always on the hunt for cool scarecrows. For 25 cents I could not leave this guy behind! Parent love snapping pictures of their kids at festivals so I thought I’d make his long torso a ruler so kids can measure how tall they are!

This isn’t an everyday craft tutorial per sey; it’s kind of geared specifically for a Fall festival or party. The end result was too cute not to share though!

As you can see, his face was already painted. My original plan was to re-paint his face, but I LOVE vintage style characters and cartoons, and I kinda love his face as is! I decided to leave it and just spruce up the rest of his body.

Here he is when I got him:

First I painted his torso yellow which will soon become the ruler!

For projects that will be outside in the elements or need large areas of coverage, I’ve been using paint samples from Lowes. They are around $3 each and you can get them in virtually any color you can imagine. Just go to the paint counter in Lowes, give them your swatch, and ask for a sample. They come in these little screw-top containers that are great for keeping them on hand for your next project.

Anywho, I measured it out and used black paint to make the tick marks and foam stamps for the numbers and “ft.” The foam stamps can be hard to find, so alternatively you could use number stickers or just free-hand them.

The arms are just painted blue with little green squares to give him the country flannel look. I used a small square piece of kitchen sponge to dab on the green. I then added some dollar store garden gloves, a bright handkerchief around his neck, and a little faux flower on his hat!

Lastly I added the sign, which says “How tall are you?” dangling from his hand. He will stand up on a metal stake that he will be securely zipped-tied to with yellow zip ties.

It will make for a simple decoration at the scarecrow festival and maybe a fun memory to look back on and see how much the kids have grown!

Calling all Cotton Headed Ninny Muggins!!! Christmas crafting has officially begun! These “Buddy the Elf” and snowman candles were made using the tall prayer candles that are available at most dollar stores. White ones are the easiest to find, and are a great template for a simple snowman. The green candles were perfect for an elf, which I created based on the character Buddy from the Christmas movie “Elf”! I will admit, the Elf candle was a little more time-consuming than I had hoped, but if you’re a fan of the movie like I am, it’s totally worth it! 🙂

Let’s start with the elf candle. Start out by drawing the outline of the jacket using a black paint pen. The nice thing about painting on glass is, if you mess up, you can wipe it off using a cotton ball and some rubbing alcohol and start again. Fill in the bottom section with yellow paint. I used Americana multi-surface satin acrylic paint. Unfortunately it took about 5-6 coats to get it opaque. The first few coats showed significant streaking, but it got better with each coat…be patient! Maybe a chalk paint would have been better? Anywho, next use a stencil brush to “dab” on the white collar.

Here are the exact paints and the types of brushes I used. They are supposed to be good on glass, but again, it took a TON of coats to get good coverage. I do like the end result though!

Once dry, draw on the little squiggles on his jacket using a yellow paint pen. I also drew a belt and buckle using black and yellow paint pens. I free-handed it, but you can use small strips of tape to create straight lines if you want.

If you know the movie, the likeness to Buddy the Elf is pretty good. 🙂 I’m happy with him!

Next is the snowman candle, which was significantly less cumbersome! Start with your basic country snowman nose.

Use the black paint pen to draw on eyes and a mouth.

Use your stencil brush or a piece of sponge to dab on some rosy cheeks. Tie on a strip of fabric to create a scarf. Quick and easy!

I’ve got a few ideas for some other designs using other colors. I hope to work on them soon and I’ll be sure to post ’em if they turn out any good! 😉 Hope everyone had a nice Turkey Day!

Do you ever buy random craft supplies that you know you’ll “use for something” but you’re not sure what? I have bins and bins of supplies with no particular project in mind, so I have been trying to use up some of them before I go buy more! I found these clothespins and thought since they are already colored brown, that I could do a larger version of the gingerbread clothespins that I made many years ago. They came out kinda cute!

If you recall, these are the mini gingerbread clips I made back in 2011 for one of my craft shows.

The tiny clothespins were regular wood colored, so I spray painted them brown. The clips I am using for this current project were already the perfect toasty gingerbread color, so that saved a lot of time and mess! I found these at Michael’s. They are a great size too; just perfectly chunky!

I simply used some paint pens to draw on the gingerbread man faces and details. Here’s the step-by-step.

These are the paint pens I used. You can get them anywhere. Even Wally-world sells them now. They are so much easier to use on small projects like this, rather than painting with a tiny brush.

The white squiggles really give them the gingerbread man feel. I made them all a little different; some with squiggles below the faces as well as above…I just winged it with each one. The eyes and cheeks were highlighted with white and pink fine-tipped paint pens.

On some, I drew little green bows. On others I made little bows out of homespun fabric and hot-glued them on. One guy even got a scarf. 🙂

For the fabric bows, just cut a small strip of fabric in the color of your choosing. I liked green for the bows, in contrast with the red buttons and rosy cheeks. Tie it in a knot, and trim the edges to make the bow as big as you want.

Use these guys to clip tags onto gifts, hang up holiday cards on a piece of twine, clip on stockings or gift bags, use as ornaments clipped onto your tree branches, etc, etc, etc…the uses are endless!

Happy Fall ya’ll! Here’s a fun project if you need favors for a Fall family gathering or a Halloween party! I made these candy scarecrows to give away at our local scarecrow festival, and the kids LOVED them! If you Google or Pinterest search “candy scarecrow,” there are a ton of variations on this craft. Here’s my take on it!

The key is finding the right shaped heads and torsos. I used Brach’s round hard candies for the heads, Nerds boxes for the torsos, Smarties for the legs, and good ol’ Tootsie Rolls for the arms. If you wanna get fancy, you can draw pumpkin faces on the heads. 😀

All you need is a hot glue gun. Glue the little wrapper ends to the box.

I tied a little piece of raffia around the necks to give them more of a scarecrow vibe. You could do it to the arms and legs too if you want. They came out surprisingly sturdy and didn’t fall apart; the hot glue worked well with the plastic wrappers. So easy and wicked cute!

What is it about Fall that brings out the crafter in me? Part of my recent craftiness has been because I am a committee member on a local small-town festival, and I have been working on some projects for that event. I wanted to share this easy project using really cheap supplies and a super cute result! DIY decorative letters, which could be adapted for all kinds of events or themes!

To start, get your letters! You can find them at any craft store, and even at your Dollar Tree if you’re lucky. I call this a “Dollar Store Craft” because all the supplies were less than $1. I got these letters at Walmart for $.96 each!

Paint them up whatever color you wish! I went with the Fall theme, since it is a Fall festival. 🙂

A fun and easy trick is to use the end of your paint brush to create dots. They come out perfect every time.

Next I hot-glued them onto some mason jars that I had lying around. You could glue them to a basket, a block of wood, or whatever you want to use to stand them up.

These scarecrow heads and raffia were purchased at the Dollar Tree. They also have faux flowers and other trinkets you can use to fill your jars. You could do candy, real flowers, electric tea lights, water and a floating candle…whatever you want to fit your theme.

I tied some raffia around the jars and letters for that Fall feel, and stuck the scarecrow heads and some fake flowers in the jars to create the final look.

You could do these for a child’s room, a baby shower, wedding tables, words for different holidays, your family’s initials; the possibilities are truly endless. These were made for initials of the festival to be displayed in the glass cases at the town hall.

Hope the impending Fall season has got you in the crafty mood too! Be back soon! 🙂

Welcome to Eyeballs By Day, Crafts By Night!

As an ophthalmic photographer by day, and a crafter by night, I welcome you to a world of my favorite things: primitives, country crafts, folk art, photography, antiques, flea markets, thrift stores, eyeballs, and enjoying the simple things in life!